Modern Studies

• First Past the Post (FPTP)


  Electoral system where the candidate with the most votes wins the seat
• Additional Members System (AMS)


  Electoral system where voters get two votes - one for a constituency candidate and one for a regional list
• FPTP is a simple majority system
• FPTP can have an impact on turnout as people can easily work out how the system calculates votes
• Turnout is still fairly high in the UK under FPTP at 67% at the last election, compared to EU elections and elections in Scotland
• FPTP provides fair representation

  Each constituency is represented by just 1 MP, so all 650 constituencies have an equal say within the UK Parliament
• AMS


  Individuals get two votes and can split their vote across two parties
• AMS allows the electorate to increase the chances of gaining a representative of their choice and allows them the opportunity to support more than one political party
• AMS is a more complicated system but is arguably better for democracy as it allows for more choice and normally ensures a wider range of parties being elected
• Smaller parties benefit from the Scottish electoral system, for example the Greens only have 1 seat in the UK but have 8 in Scotland
• AMS provides fair representation

  Each person in Scotland is represented by 8 MSPs including 1 constituency and 7 regional representatives
• Under AMS, regional MSPs are selected by the winning party, not the public, and if a regional MSP resigns, they can be replaced by the party instead of having a by-election
• FPTP is the system which is potentially fairest as it is the only system where the representative is directly voted for by the public
• Under FPTP, coalition governments are less likely to occur as larger parties are more likely to pick up most seats and therefore form majority governments
• Majority governments benefit the UK economy as they provide political stability
• FPTP prevents extremist parties from gaining seats in the UK parliament
• FPTP does not provide fair representation as many smaller parties miss out and are unable to win seats despite winning votes
• In Scotland, smaller parties are more likely to win representation under AMS as the second vote is used to ensure a fair and proportional result
• FPTP leads to many wasted votes as people are less likely to vote for smaller parties as there is almost no chance of them winning
• AMS can result in smaller parties having too much power, as seen in 2021 when the SNP chose to enter an agreement with the Greens with only 8 seats
• Voting behaviour


  Factors that influence how a person votes
• TV


  • It is the most influential media source according to research group Panel Base
  • It has many political programmes that people watch
  • It has had a growing influence on political decisions over time as people are swayed by the performance of candidates
• Newspapers


  • They can demonstrate bias by encouraging readers to vote for a particular party and criticising the opposition
  • Tabloids can influence how people view certain political figures
  • Newspapers are still influential for older voters who have a higher turnout
• Social media


  • Parties are increasingly using it to engage with potential voters
  • It is used for political discussion but may not always influence voting behaviour directly
• Age


  The biggest dividing line of British voting behaviour, with older voters more likely to support the Conservatives
• Social class


  Division of society based on income and education, with wealthier classes traditionally supporting the Conservatives and poorer classes voting Labour
• were more open to issues like Scottish Independence, with 71% of 16–17-year-olds voting 'Yes' compared to only 27% of 65+. This shows us that older voters are less open to change and are socially and politically more conservative in their views and despite a record turn out across all ages, the older voters managed to sway the result towards '55% NO' – which decided the outcome. Overall, age is a very important factor which is comes to voting behaviour and probably has the biggest impact on the result
• Social class


  The division of society based on things like income and education
• Wealthier classes A/B/C1 traditionally supporting the Conservatives, whose policies would traditionally allow these groups to keep more of their assets and wealth, and poorer classes C2/D/E voting Labour who support the redistribution of wealth from the top down
• In the 2015 election 44% of A/B voted Conservatives compared to only 28% of D/E. Likewise in the 2017 election 47% of D/E voted Labour compared to just 38% of D/E voting Tory
• Increased social mobility has meant that less people identify with social class, as today's society presents more opportunity for people to 'do better'. This has caused class dealignment which means class is no longer a solid predictor of voting behaviour
• This was evident at the 2019 general election in which more C2/D/E voters supported Conservative over Labour. The issue of BREXIT is likely to have influenced working class voters who have been more affected by immigration than wealthier people – especially because richer people can afford to bypass NHS queues, buy their own homes etc which is often the issues blamed on immigrants
• Although single issues like the cost-of-living crisis and the government's handling of COVID, including party gate, are predicted to be huge influences in the 2024 election, with many polls suggesting a Conservative wipe out, it is clear that current evidence shows that age has the biggest influence on voting behaviour, TV and newspapers are fairly influential and social class and social media are not quite as influence as once thought
• The UK is a representative Democracy which means we elect politicians to work on our behalf in parliament. These elected representatives, also known as MPs or MSPs, have a duty to hold the government to account
• Ways the government can be held to account

  1. Questioning

  2. Debating

  3. Scrutiny through select Committees

  4. Holding a vote of no confidence

  5. House of Lords
• Prime Ministers Questions (PMQs)


  Takes place every Wednesday at 12 during which time the leader will answer questions from other MPs
• The leader of the opposition Keir Starmer will get to ask 6 questions, the SNP will get 2 then the floor will open up for up to 15 MPs to ask questions which is drawn via a 'shuffle'
• During 'Partygate', Boris Johnston was questioned about allegedly partying during lockdown which eventually led to a damming report by 'Sue Gray' on the culture within Downing Street and eventually Boris Johnston was fined for breaking his own Covid rules
• Many people argue that the session is simply not long enough to truly hold the government to account as there are 650 MPs with potential questions and the sessions only last 30 mins
• The sessions often become very rowdy and are referred to as 'Punch and Judy' shows